The hearings will address include “power and fuel dependencies, emergency permitting, resource sharing protocols, 9-1-1 accessibility” and will result in recommendation to strengthen that system.

“This unprecedented storm has revealed new challenges that will require a national dialogue around ideas and actions to ensure the resilience of communications networks,” said Genachowski in announcing the hearings.

The loss of power in major data centers in the New York metro area was another major problem. “The generator infrastructure at those locations are not set up to run for extended times,” said Chris Morley, president of zColo, in an interview with FierceTelecom.

“The general takeaway from this is that public safety’s requirements are not the same as commercial providers—the need for backup generators is absolutely crucial,” Brownlow said during an interview with Urgent Communications. “I think that’s the message that needs to be made clear to FirstNet.”

“The sites built on buildings are the most vulnerable, as opposed to the ones built on towers, for two reasons,” says mobile wireless consultant Andrew Seybold. “Number one, buildings don’t withstand 100-mph winds the way towers do. Number two, you can’t put a generator on the roof, so you put a generator on the ground or in the basement, and it floods.”

FirstNet will build a nationwide 700 MHz broadband wireless network (2 x 10 MHz) dedicated to first responders. But unlike the 150 MHz and 450 MHz networks which many first responders use for voice, the 700 MHz network will require more dense antenna spacing, with many more sites on rooftops or the sides of buildings.